dondo
01-15-2009, 11:37 PM
In three games now the Oil Kings have yet to score a goal as they have been shut out each and every time.
Our two euros seem to be finding a place in the line-up and could find themselves being sat less, as the season progresses.
James Wright was a healthy scratch and I have to say maybe its about time. Wright had rough time last season with mono and injuries, but earlier this year he looked to have that all behind him and ready to make an impact to the level of his skill, which is prodigious. For my money, he has disappointed since a solid start. He gets points here and there, but has not been the force that we have expected he could be and frequently takes shifts off, by my reckoning. Maybe a bit of pine-time and stat keeping will re-energize him.
Our Defense were rock solid tonight, making great break-out passes. Its a shame that a lot of the forwards had a hard time handling the puck and were guilty of quite a few give-aways.
Here's how I heard it:
Giants Pump Oil Kings
Vancouver 2 Edmonton 0
Don Robinson
For the third straight game between these two teams the Oil Kings failed to score a goal. Three straight shut-outs versus the second year Edmonton squad, for the Vancouver squad. Tyson Sexsmith was not challenged to make any brilliant stops tonight turning away all 12 shots thrown his way, pushing his WHL all-time regular season shut-out record to 23. The Giants controlled the play for the vast majority of the game, but Torrie Jung did his level best to keep his team in the game as he did have a very good game, turning away 31 shots and not really having a chance on the two which got past him. Mischa Fisenko had a great game, working hard at all ends of the ice, earning first star honours with a great assist on the Mike Berube goal. Brent Regner opened the scoring in the first powering the puck past a screened Jung. Fisenko found some chemistry playing with Adam Basford and JT Barnett, but it was his quarterbacking on the second PP unit which showed the skill of this player. Vancouver played a solid game, but really should have been gutting it out a bit more and bringing their game into the Edmonton end of the ice. A bit of a soft game by Giants standards, but solid in a lot of ways. Lacked the kind of intensity that we like to see from this team and sloppier with the puck than they usually are. Defense was very solid tonight, making nice passes and its indicative that the two goals came off of defender’s sticks. The top two lines were not that good tonight and will definitely need to step it up to their “A” game across the board, tomorrow night.
The Giants came out in the first controlling the play and holding on to the puck for the majority of the period. Brent Regner opened the scoring mid-period, taking an Andrej Kudrna feed and blasting it past Jung to put the Giants on the board. The only penalties in the first were coincidental roughings.
In the second the Oil Kings tried a bit harder and the Giants struggled a bit getting pucks on the Edmonton net. They capitalised on a late PP in the second pushing their lead to two. Fisenko quarterbacking the second PP, found a very lonely and alone Berube who had seconds to put the puck in a wide open net, sneaking down low into the open ice. The zebras were a bit busier, giving the Giants and Oil Kings two PPs each in the middle frame. Not too many big hits in the game. Jung had to be good in the second, but not as good as he was in the first.
The Giants peppered Jung in then third, padding his stats, but not the score-sheet. The top two lines might have had their minds on tomorrow’s game as they were doing their laundry out on the ice, playing without any real intensity or desire to tickle the twine. As it was Hay was content to throw his third and fourth liners over the boards and give them a chance to show the big guys what effort was all about. Brendan Gallagher was zipping all over the ice and Fisenko’s line had their moments. Lance Bouma was strangely quiet throwing the body tonight, but did tangle with defenseman Henrik Tervonen. Bouma and Tervonen dropped the mitts just past the mid-mark of the period. Bouma got the majority of shots in, but Edmonton native Tervonen hung in there in front of his home town crowd. Edmonton took a lot of penalties in the third, but the Giants were unable to take advantage and against this team that’s not really acceptable. Kane took a nasty high-stick/cross-check to the face drawing a bit of a crowd and earning the Oil Kings another penalty as they became undisciplined in the final stanza.
The Giants went 1 for 6 on the PP, while the Oil Kings were 0 for 2. The visitors out shot the home team 33-12 and controlled the play the majority of the game, but did not bring their best effort forward. I’m sure the coach’s have mixed feelings about this game, happy to get the win, but disappointed in the over-all effort, except for a few stand-out players and the solid play of their defensive corps who did have a good night tonight. Pucks were bouncing all over Giants sticks and they had a hard time corralling the biscuit at times, turning the puck over more than they like. Fisenko has been one the Giants best players since the Christmas break and seems to be finding a good WHL game, bouncing back from hard checks and making plays in traffic. This bodes well for the latter half of the season, which will see teams focus heavily on the G-Men’s top guys and the support players will need to get the goals. I have heard quite a lot lately that Fisenko has one of the best wrist shots in the Dub and that as good as he is as a passer he’s an even better scorer. Like CPZ, Fisenko fancies himself a playmaker first, but also like CPZ he possesses a wickedly accurate shot he needs to use a lot more often.
The Giants head to Calgary tomorrow for one of the more anticipated games this season. Top in the East and top in the West going head-to-head. The Giants heading into a building in which the Hitmen have only lost once. Dominant defense versus ridiculously deep and adept scoring. Sniper versus sniper, grinder versus grinder, both teams will have to bring their best game to the fore to get the win and it should be a battle. The Giants will really have to make sure they take care of their end of the ice and limit their penalties as the Hitmen possess the ability to put up quick points in bunches. The Hitmen might have been thinking about the Giants as they dropped an OT game to the Kootenay Ice tonight in Cranbrook, trailing most of the game. The game will be shown on Shaw Cable. The puck drops at 6pm PST (7pm MST).
Three Stars
1) Mischa Fisenko
2) Craig Schira
3) Torrie Jung
Our two euros seem to be finding a place in the line-up and could find themselves being sat less, as the season progresses.
James Wright was a healthy scratch and I have to say maybe its about time. Wright had rough time last season with mono and injuries, but earlier this year he looked to have that all behind him and ready to make an impact to the level of his skill, which is prodigious. For my money, he has disappointed since a solid start. He gets points here and there, but has not been the force that we have expected he could be and frequently takes shifts off, by my reckoning. Maybe a bit of pine-time and stat keeping will re-energize him.
Our Defense were rock solid tonight, making great break-out passes. Its a shame that a lot of the forwards had a hard time handling the puck and were guilty of quite a few give-aways.
Here's how I heard it:
Giants Pump Oil Kings
Vancouver 2 Edmonton 0
Don Robinson
For the third straight game between these two teams the Oil Kings failed to score a goal. Three straight shut-outs versus the second year Edmonton squad, for the Vancouver squad. Tyson Sexsmith was not challenged to make any brilliant stops tonight turning away all 12 shots thrown his way, pushing his WHL all-time regular season shut-out record to 23. The Giants controlled the play for the vast majority of the game, but Torrie Jung did his level best to keep his team in the game as he did have a very good game, turning away 31 shots and not really having a chance on the two which got past him. Mischa Fisenko had a great game, working hard at all ends of the ice, earning first star honours with a great assist on the Mike Berube goal. Brent Regner opened the scoring in the first powering the puck past a screened Jung. Fisenko found some chemistry playing with Adam Basford and JT Barnett, but it was his quarterbacking on the second PP unit which showed the skill of this player. Vancouver played a solid game, but really should have been gutting it out a bit more and bringing their game into the Edmonton end of the ice. A bit of a soft game by Giants standards, but solid in a lot of ways. Lacked the kind of intensity that we like to see from this team and sloppier with the puck than they usually are. Defense was very solid tonight, making nice passes and its indicative that the two goals came off of defender’s sticks. The top two lines were not that good tonight and will definitely need to step it up to their “A” game across the board, tomorrow night.
The Giants came out in the first controlling the play and holding on to the puck for the majority of the period. Brent Regner opened the scoring mid-period, taking an Andrej Kudrna feed and blasting it past Jung to put the Giants on the board. The only penalties in the first were coincidental roughings.
In the second the Oil Kings tried a bit harder and the Giants struggled a bit getting pucks on the Edmonton net. They capitalised on a late PP in the second pushing their lead to two. Fisenko quarterbacking the second PP, found a very lonely and alone Berube who had seconds to put the puck in a wide open net, sneaking down low into the open ice. The zebras were a bit busier, giving the Giants and Oil Kings two PPs each in the middle frame. Not too many big hits in the game. Jung had to be good in the second, but not as good as he was in the first.
The Giants peppered Jung in then third, padding his stats, but not the score-sheet. The top two lines might have had their minds on tomorrow’s game as they were doing their laundry out on the ice, playing without any real intensity or desire to tickle the twine. As it was Hay was content to throw his third and fourth liners over the boards and give them a chance to show the big guys what effort was all about. Brendan Gallagher was zipping all over the ice and Fisenko’s line had their moments. Lance Bouma was strangely quiet throwing the body tonight, but did tangle with defenseman Henrik Tervonen. Bouma and Tervonen dropped the mitts just past the mid-mark of the period. Bouma got the majority of shots in, but Edmonton native Tervonen hung in there in front of his home town crowd. Edmonton took a lot of penalties in the third, but the Giants were unable to take advantage and against this team that’s not really acceptable. Kane took a nasty high-stick/cross-check to the face drawing a bit of a crowd and earning the Oil Kings another penalty as they became undisciplined in the final stanza.
The Giants went 1 for 6 on the PP, while the Oil Kings were 0 for 2. The visitors out shot the home team 33-12 and controlled the play the majority of the game, but did not bring their best effort forward. I’m sure the coach’s have mixed feelings about this game, happy to get the win, but disappointed in the over-all effort, except for a few stand-out players and the solid play of their defensive corps who did have a good night tonight. Pucks were bouncing all over Giants sticks and they had a hard time corralling the biscuit at times, turning the puck over more than they like. Fisenko has been one the Giants best players since the Christmas break and seems to be finding a good WHL game, bouncing back from hard checks and making plays in traffic. This bodes well for the latter half of the season, which will see teams focus heavily on the G-Men’s top guys and the support players will need to get the goals. I have heard quite a lot lately that Fisenko has one of the best wrist shots in the Dub and that as good as he is as a passer he’s an even better scorer. Like CPZ, Fisenko fancies himself a playmaker first, but also like CPZ he possesses a wickedly accurate shot he needs to use a lot more often.
The Giants head to Calgary tomorrow for one of the more anticipated games this season. Top in the East and top in the West going head-to-head. The Giants heading into a building in which the Hitmen have only lost once. Dominant defense versus ridiculously deep and adept scoring. Sniper versus sniper, grinder versus grinder, both teams will have to bring their best game to the fore to get the win and it should be a battle. The Giants will really have to make sure they take care of their end of the ice and limit their penalties as the Hitmen possess the ability to put up quick points in bunches. The Hitmen might have been thinking about the Giants as they dropped an OT game to the Kootenay Ice tonight in Cranbrook, trailing most of the game. The game will be shown on Shaw Cable. The puck drops at 6pm PST (7pm MST).
Three Stars
1) Mischa Fisenko
2) Craig Schira
3) Torrie Jung